March 8, 2005 - (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – Internet security firm Fortinet today announced that its FortiGate systems and FortiClient Host Security software protect against the latest Sober variant, W32/Sober.M-mm, also known as Sober.L. A mass-mailer that follows the footsteps of previous Sober variants in style and function, W32/Sober.M-mm, targets email recipientsby harvesting addresses from an infected system and then sends emails with a viral attachment. The mail attachments have a .PIF or .ZIP extension.
Fortinet currently rates the latest Sober variant a Level Two worm, but notes it has the potential to be a higher threat in the future.
2 variants of the worm have also recently been spread through the use of Microsoft’s Instant Messenger, often as a message that promises naked pictures of Paris Hilton which then installs a Trojan on the user’s computer.
